product

📅 Daily Note: October 6, 2025

A roadmap for successful AI adoption in Higher Education, from dxw:

Higher education institutions are actively experimenting with AI to improve operational efficiency, yet approaches vary significantly across the sector. Institutions face complex issues including output accuracy, data privacy, and academic integrity – with some organisations establishing centralized AI task forces while others maintain department-led initiatives that risk duplication and inconsistent policies.

Given this landscape, strategic engagement with AI requires drawing on experiences from across the sector and beyond. This is the first in a series of blog posts discussing the different aspects of AI implementation. Here we present two complementary frameworks – EVR’s 4D strategy and dxw’s iterative approach to grounded experimentation – that together provide a comprehensive roadmap for successful AI implementation in higher education.

Useful for any sector.

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Via Neilly, Project vs Product Funding by Jennifer Pahlka:

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Scott Colfer writes Most of What We Call a ‘Service’ Isn’t One (and Why That Matters for Product People)

In government and the wider public sector, we’ve built our identity around “services.”
Digital teams design them, measure them, apply the Service Standard to them.

But most of what we call a service isn’t actually a service.

More often, the work we label as a “service” is really something else:

  • An experience (like applying, enrolling, or updating).
  • A capability (like payments, case management, or publishing).
  • Or a technology system (like a website or platform).

The Service Standard itself, our flagship guidance, is rarely been applied to a true end-to-end service. Most of the time, it’s applied to fragments: experiences, capabilities, or tech.

And that mislabelling matters. You can end up treating a website like a whole service, or expecting a tech platform to deliver a citizen journey.

 

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Interesting take: hands up people who’ve ever said “i cant wait for my local council to build an AI chatbot”

do residents actually want this?

wouldn’t they rather use their chosen AI – which already has access to and understands the internet, their preferences, their context? instead of our RAG bot that knows nothing about them and only works within our little bubble?

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OpenReferralUK show and tell. I wrote on LinkedIn about it:

I genuinely believe there is a golden opportunity in the open referral stuff to use the service directory concept to flip the local public service operating model to matching people’s needs with those that can meet with – with local government getting out of the way.

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📅 Daily Note: September 3, 2025

Brent’s Innovation Journey: Building a ‘Base’ for Local Government Innovation by Ryan Hamilton on the LOTI blog:

At Brent, we’ve been trying to rethink how we tackle problems in a way that makes ‘innovation’ not just a buzzword, but a practical, everyday reality in local government.

That journey led us to something exciting: We will soon be launching ‘The Base’ , a dedicated space at the Civic Centre (both physical and cultural) where bold ideas, agile working and collaborative experimentation come to life.

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What makes a good outcome? by Jamie Arnold:

In the world of digital and organisational change, being able to define and communicate a strong outcome is a leadership superpower. Whether you’re working on a product, service, or internal shift, a well-crafted outcome sets direction, aligns teams, and builds momentum. Here’s how to make your outcomes truly effective.

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New book to improve accessibility of Welsh digital public services – from the Centre for Digital Public Services.

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I like the idea of “digital everywhere” – amongst a whole range of brilliant ideas and reflections from Catherine Howe:

Digital everywhere: The embedding of digital practitioners within services alongside a digital skills development program is something I feel we’ve tested in a limited way but clearly it works when done right and I’m really looking forward to having the capacity to develop this approach. This requires a really strong approach to making sure those digital roles are properly designed and also wired into the core digital team as well as clear guide rails that need to be context sensitive.

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Product strategy, prioritisation frameworks and responding to change by Alan Wright:

Product teams often face more opportunities than they can act on, with new ones arising all the time. This post explores the link between strategy and priorities, when prioritisation frameworks help or hinder, and how to empower teams to make smart, timely decisions as new opportunities emerge.

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From Strategy to Strolls: A Few Weeks of Progress and Pauses, by Atika:

One of the standout achievements in the last few weeks was securing approval for our new strategic framework and governance model. This marks a significant step forward in aligning our digital ambitions with the Council’s broader priorities. The framework, shaped through collaboration and challenge, is now the backbone of how we’ll deliver impact—anchored in transparency, agility, and accountability. We’re also making good progress on the TOM work to make sure we have the culture and capability to deliver this.

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The courage to digitally transform with the Digital Layer and AI – interesting talk from Mark Thompson.

 

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📅 Daily note for 22 November 2024

Whoops, forgot to hit publish on Friday. #

Another kerr-azy week of having too much to do and too little time and energy to do it. #

A short post I put up on LinkedIn (and published here and on Localise⬈ as an archive) blew up in a modest way. It even attracted a comment on a blog post! Good heavens. Does feel like there is a gap here to be filled by something. #

Atika has started her CDO type role at Luton Council and she’s published the first blog post⬈ on the Council’s brand new blog in her first week! An inspiration to us all – this is how you impact on culture early. #

Ben Holliday: Analogue because of digital⬈:

My concern is that the default solution to this type of reform will be more technology. However, we still have a greater need for more joined up systems that make better use of existing technology. This includes recognising that not all legacy technology is bad. Dare I say, even some of the pagers and the fax machines.

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Alan Wright’s favourite tools for analysing user and product data⬈ #

LINK: “The Importance of Product Management in Government”

…the approach taken to build and deliver digital products needs to evolve to take advantage of modern software development methods including agile iterative development, human centered design, and continuous delivery. Despite fancy design labs and alleged “digital transformation” capabilities, most vendors and government agencies continue to deliver digital products using traditional project management and waterfall development methods.

Original: https://medium.com/the-u-s-digital-service/the-importance-of-product-management-in-government-b59933d01874

Being good at work

Lovely post from Stephen Hale:

I think the culture and tools of social networking can go a long way to improve how people manage and share knowledge inside an organisation, and increase individuals’ productivity at work. Lots of people could be a little bit more productive if they used more of behaviours and the tools of social networking routinely at work.

Personally, I am much better at my job because of social tools. I’m better informed, often helped by others, better connected, more grateful, and more ready to share my own thoughts than I would be without tools like Yammer, Twitter and blogs.